Bride-to-Be Gets a Letter in Her Mail. Then Finds Out She Might Miss Her Own Destination Wedding: ‘The Odds’
The odds were not in her favor.
Planning a wedding takes a lot of time, money, and effort, and even more so when it’s a destination wedding. But for one bride-to-be, she realized that she might have to miss her own wedding when she received a summons to jury duty on the same day as her nuptials in Italy.
Katrina Badowski (@katrinabadowski) shared the news of her summons in a short video posted on Instagram on Aug. 20. In her video, which had accumulated more than 43,700 likes, Badowski showed viewers her summons letter for jury duty by the Wyandotte County District Court.
Badowski also highlighted the service date and zoomed in to show viewers it was scheduled for Aug. 31. “The odds of you being summoned for jury duty on your wedding day are low, but never zero…,” Badowski wrote in an on-screen text.
Bride couldn’t believe the coincidence
In a statement to PEOPLE, Badowski shared that she had always been interested in experiencing jury duty herself, especially for the complex and high-profile cases. “I find it deeply ironic that I haven’t been summoned for jury duty in over a decade, as I would genuinely welcome the opportunity,” she said. “But when I saw the date on the summons, my jaw physically dropped.”
Badowski was in the middle of preparing for her wedding at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Aug. 31 when she received the letter on Aug. 14. But because she was occupied with final wedding preparations, the summons was put on the back burner.
“The odds of being called on the exact day of my wedding feels like one of those moments where the universe has a sense of humor,” Badowski said. The bride-to-be eventually remembered the summons letter on Aug. 20 and reportedly emailed the jury clerk to explain why she couldn’t make it to jury duty.
“Because of the nature of our destination wedding, with all flights, venues, and vendors booked and paid for, it is entirely impossible for me to attend,” Badowski said. She reportedly sent the jury clerk a link to her wedding website, and by the next day, she received an email notifying her that she was excused from service, along with a “Congratulations” on her pending nuptials.
Ignoring a jury summons can bring repercussions
Users were left amused by the rather inconvenient jury timing, and others even shared their own version of badly timed summons. “I got jury duty for the day I gave birth lol,” a user said. “This happened to me in 2023 and I immediately broke out in hives right on the week of my wedding. thankfully my state allows 1 courtesy reschedule so I moved it back 6 months, then I moved to a different county and then the summons became void,” another said.
Some joked that the District Court must have had insider information because of how on the nose the date was. “Do you have an ex that works there that knows you’re getting married or what?!??” the user said.
A few even suggested that the bride-to-be ignore the summons. While some find creative ways to skip the duty, a jury summons is still a legal obligation. But what would happen if you do ignore a summons?
According to Universal Law Group, the consequences vary depending on several factors: your response, the jurisdiction, and how many offenses you’ve committed. As such, consequences can range from warnings, fines ranging from $100 to $1000, contempt of court charges, to even a warrant for arrest in severe cases. So if you can’t make it to your jury duty, it is best to contact your District Court, like Badowski, and they will likely reschedule your service with no penalty.
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